Starstuff and Old Newspapers: The Story of Leo and the Universe
by jackipie
Summary: Hello Fellow Reader, I am so happy and fortunate that you are taking the time to read this caption! I have a elaborate summary written out, a little more than 300 characters. This is a coming of age story about Leo Borlock as a young adult making a sense of his world, as he discovers "Stargirl" Susan Caraway isn't just a mere memory. Reviews needed! Chapter 2 is coming!-Jackipie
1. Synopsis

Hello Fellow Readers,

I would like you to take a journey to the future, or should I say present, in the lives of "Stargirl" Susan Caraway and Leo Borlock. In this depiction of our favorite characters from Jerry Spinelli's _Stargirl_ and _Love, Stargirl_ , we venture to their present where they are young adults trying to survive and make ends meet. Somewhere in between their now separate lives, they each grow into successful individuals when suddenly, somehow, they meet in this big, yet small world. Perhaps it was the right time to meet, perhaps it is wrong timing...but it is now or never. Will they? Will they not? Is it too late for destined love?

I hope you will enjoy this journey as much as I enjoyed writing it.

-Jackipie.

This Fanfiction story takes no credit for the creation of its characters. All is based on Jerry Spinelli's amazing and wonderful _Stargirl_ and _Love, Stargirl_.

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Synopsis:

Twenty six year old Leo Borlock has grown up, or at least he thinks he has. He works in a newly popular NewComb Theatre in New York. He also has taken a lover,..his married boss Cassandra Bernhardt. Things seem a blur for Leo. He seems like he is drifting upon his life, not taking anything seriously. Until one day, when he was planning to secretly meet Cass at the library, he stumbled into some old newspapers. Walking over, he decides to look in the back of the newspaper, where ads and sales go,...where fillers go. He thinks of Stargirl, an old, yet important flame in his life who somehow always seems to be behind his mind almost every other minute of every single day. Then, he sees the name.  
Susan Caraway. Leo Borlock is struck hard. His heart is heavy with wanting, with finding out where she is, how has she grown, what she has become. He discovers, too much of his dismay, that she also lives in New York; and in fact, she is a successful column writer for the National Geographic.

Should he confront her, should he not? Is it too late for destined love?  
Time heals, but time also changes you.


	2. Chapter 1

"Hey you,"

A gentle, warm breath caressed my exposed ear. "I'll be making coffee."  
Suddenly, her presence became empty as she lifted off from the bed. She stood up, bent over to retrieve one of my shirts lying on the floor, buttoning each one from bottom up as she glided into my kitchen. I stretched my limbs. My head is slightly spinning from the night before.

"Fuck," I whispered to myself. I didn't want Cass to hear, since my loft is especially small.

Cassandra Bernhardt was quite the woman. She new exactly want she wanted, and what I wanted. She was sexy. She was independent. She was older. She was also my boss. My married boss. Look, I'm not proud of this scenario. Hell, in fact, I didn't ask for it. She came onto me, just after a month after working for her at the NewComb theatre in New York.

I got up, put on some clothes, or at least what was scrambled on the floor below. I walked in as Cass was pouring herself a cup of coffee.  
"Your place is a mess, love. Want a cup?" She looked from her cup onto me, sipping and grinning.

"Yeah, thanks. Look, Cass…" as I reached for a cup in the cupboard.

"Oh sweetheart, you were too good." She exclaimed as she walked towards me.

"I just, I just don't think…" I muttered.

Cass lightly chuckled as she drank from her cup. "That's not what you were thinking last night." She walked passed me, knowing that my eyes trailed behind her. She pulled a chair towards the window, looking at the rugged city below.

"Look Leo, I understand." She sips, her hands clasped the cup.

"Oh, really? You understand?" I looked at her. She was elegant, this woman. She was also, a complete and total elegant mess.

"Of course darling...please, don't be so frigid." She dragged her heavy eyes towards mine. "You are enjoying the prime of your life, and I, well...I am enjoying mine." She sips.

I sighed. She was right. I have no commitments. I work as a set designer, and that was that. Nothing aspiring, nothing at all. I have felt a familiar comfort in existing with nothing to look forward to, other than the performances I help create. Oh, and the occasional nights and meetups I have with Cass. And even with that, particularly with Cass, I'm not that fond of.  
I looked at her. She was so sure of herself, that Cass.

"Alright Leo, it was a fun night, but my husband will be flying back in soon. I need to get home and make sure the house is ready for when he returns!" She smiled, as she gathered her clothes and skipped to the bathroom. She changed, knowing I was watching her as she gazed in front of the mirror above the sink. She cleaned up, put on her heels and clicked clacked to me.  
"Oh Leo, you charm me." She kissed. Her eyes set onto mine.  
I sighed. "I'll see you at work Monday?"  
"I'll be a little late, but I'll be there." She smiled as she gathered her purse and coat. As quickly as she came, she left.

I placed my coffee cup down on the kitchen counter and walked into my sad attempt of a bathroom. It might as well be a closet, honestly. In the bathroom, I looked at the rusty mirror, gazing upon my rusty self.  
"Look at you Leo, what the fuck are you doing!"

As a youth, I imagined myself becoming a news anchor, a man with prestige and confidence. I imagined myself, with a suit and tie, talking about news, about sports, about the world, inspiring others. In reality, that didn't happen. I grew to love theatre, film and production. This path somehow constructed me to be a set designer. Most people would love to have this job. Hell, in fact it is a pretty neat one at that. Upcoming plays, improves, pantomimes,...but in all honesty I find nothing aspirational about it. People come and people go. Stories, aspiring actors,...these things either make it big or don't. These idealisms exist as a constant, which has become my life.

Now, I became the very person I always was, a person existing and moving along with life, comfortable what goes on around me. I don't know how I feel about this reality, but it is something I have accepted.

Water runs.

Showers always make me feel so tranquil. They are also a haven, dense of memories. One of my cherished pastimes is thinking back, about college, high school, about the people that had made a presence in my life,...and Stargirl.

 _Stargirl_ Caraway. _Stargirl Susan Caraway._ What smile. What a blur.  
Somehow, this ghost of a memory always pops up in my most joyous moments.

The image of her was like a lighted shadow. She was the highlighted glimmer whenever there was good. Especially little things.

When in the shower, I think of the rain. I think of the rain in Arizona, the air dense with wet, delicious earth scents,... the cooling rain that Stargirl danced under not giving a damn what other people saw or thought.  
Then, a feeling of shame overclouded me. Man, did I fuck things up. What an immature prick I was. Not appreciating such purity and amazement, such a beautiful fragile being who gave herself to me. She was mine. And she knew it too. And what did I do? I made her conform to society, to a mediocre school who didn't give a shit about her.

I wonder, I wonder...I wonder what she is doing, now, at this time of our lives; I wonder where she is and what she has grown to become. Her soft, sandy blonde hair, her dazzling monumental blue eyes, her dainty innocent self, that smile…

Water drains below me as I begin to walk out. I grab a towel, quickly dry myself from the wetness and from these memories. Thinking about the past isn't usually something I'm proud of admitting to anyone, but these thoughts are relentless. I took a deep sigh, and remind myself that the only way to move on is look forward to the expected future.


End file.
